blue rock » the blog

After Israel, we headed into Jordan for a day tour to Petra. Another incredible place…to imagine how they carved so many tombs out of the rock…and kept their bedouin trading society secret from everyone else was ingenious (or crazy). I will say that after seeing so much of Israel and then Jordan…I began wondering what all the fighting in this part of the world is all about anyway. It’s a DESERT, people! It’s not very productive…it can barely support goats (who’ll eat just about anything). In fact, I found myself feeling sorry for the poor goats and mules I saw wandering in the desert. Cruel and unusual punishment, if you ask me. However…it does produce some pretty pictures…and here they are.

At this point, our guide had the bus pull over so he could tell us about what we were looking at. He said, “This is Wadi Musa…which mean, Musa’s Wadi”. Well, thank you for that detailed information. What the heck is a Wadi? And who in the heck was Musa? It was only later when we were reading the signs on our hike to Petra that it explained that Petra is the place traditionally believed to be where Moses smote the rock and water gushed forth to aid the children of Israel. Musa means Moses. And Wadi is an oasis of sorts. So, this is Moses’s Oasis. And here is a picture of me with Musa’s Wadi in the background.

The impressive treasury at Petra.

And some other assorted carved tombs. So pretty.

OK…So I have a really bad habit of going to AMAZING places, taking pictures for hours on end, transfering them to my computer…and then NEVER editing them. It’s sad really. The truth is, I come home happy (but exhausted)…I sleep it off for a couple of days and slowly ease into “normal” life…and then normal life happens and all of my editing time is taken up with my clients’ needs, and I never get to my own stuff. Silly, I know.

There’s also another reason I haven’t gotten to these pictures yet. I found out just days before this trip that I was PREGNANT! Holy Canoli!!! Infertile for nigh on ten years and suddenly, out of the blue…the little pee stick came out positive??? What in the world? So…life was a little different on this trip. So far (and I’m in week 12 now) there’s been no nausea…but there has been some serious food adversion. And just looking at some of these pictures brings back memories of food I seriously DID NOT want to eat. Hommus and I may never be friends again after my trip to the Near East. Cucumbers may suffer the same fate. But I digress…

We started our trip to the Near East with Israel…and we started our trip to Israel with a wonderful couple of days in Galilee. We drove ourselves all around (I thought we were NUTS when Kevin suggested we do it that way…but it was seriously safe and like driving in the USA). We stayed at Ein Gev and enjoyed the beautiful beach and sunsets, the hammocks under the palm trees, and I even got a massage. Ahhh…heaven! I can see why Christ chose this as his central location for preaching. It’s peaceful. There were lots of moments for pondering and reflecting. I could almost picture him teaching by the sea side. So much different than the busy hustle and bustle of Jerusalem (where we went next).

Jerusalem was a mass of people. Jewish, Christian, and Moslem people flow through the city. Horns never stop blaring…even late into the night. (Kevin never did sleep very well. Luckily, I brought ear plugs). Music and people can be heard from early in the morning until midnight. Old Jerusalem pulsates to the beat of a thousand bazaar vendors hawking their wares to passersby. There was SO MUCH to see and do. The Dome of the Rock, the Wailing Wall, Hezekiah’s Tunnels (which were incredibly fun…and the water made the heat so much more tolerable), the Garden Tomb, the Western Wall Tunnels. Some of the most incredible historic ruins and sites I’ve ever seen. Just magnificent.

The true jewel of Jerusalem was the Palestinian people, however. I loved conversing with them. They were incredibly helpful, polite and friendly. Some of the them would talk to us about the sites for long periods of time. Just gracious people…and we were so glad to get to meet and know them.

While in Israel, we also got to tour the mountain fortress of Masada, float in the Dead Sea and slather ourselves with mud, and swim in the Red Sea at Eilat. It was an incredible week. One I’d love to repeat when we’re NOT expecting a child. I’m sure the falafel would be MUCH more appealing then…and the kebabs…and maybe even the cursed hommus.

In the morning the Sea of Galilee is so glassy calm…and it gets progressively choppier as the night wears on. I love this shot of the sea at sunset!

The Wailing Wall at night.

This incredibly handsome man only makes the scenery that much more amazing. (How did I get so lucky again???)

One of the most incredible things I saw the whole trip. This was a WATER CISTERN at the desert fortress of Masada. When I read about cisterns up there…I was thinking like little bowls that caught water…I didn’t realize it was a system of whole huge caverns carved out of the mountain that could fuel such ridiculous extravagances as a swimming pool and bath house.

Looking lovely in Dead Sea Mud…

And last…the whole reason for our trip to Israel in the first place…to walk where Jesus walked, see what he might have seen…and understand a little better the context of the holy scriptures. Though I didn’t need to go to Israel to know that Christ really did walk on this earth and die for me and all mankind, and even more miraculously, rose again from the grave…it certainly helped me understand the stage where he taught a little better. I can picture what it might have been like during his life…and his death…and it makes the scriptures all the more special and personal to me.